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International Exhibition, South Kensington, 1862, a copper award medal by L.C. Wyon, Britannia surrounded by symbolic figures, rev. legend in wreath, edge named (J. Tharpe, Class III C), 77mm (Allen A1; BHM 2747; E 1553). Surface dulled, otherwise better than very fine £80-100

Provenance: R.A. Brandon Collection.

Class III attracted some 38 entrants from Jamaica exhibiting rum. Tharpe’s rum was considered to be “character full, clean, and good”. A John Tharpe had purchased the Unity Plantation in Trelawny, Jamaica, in 1788; the medal was perhaps awarded to a descendant